On Sunday, October 4 at Jojo's on U Street, 'Ol Soul Project presents a benefit concert to fund the upcoming documentary "Seen But Not Heard" by New York-based director Cyrille Phipps. The documentary addresses the illness' ravaging effect on Black women across the country. Liberated Muse members Colie Williams, LOVE the poet and Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman are among the performers.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, blacks have accounted for 397,548 (42%) of the estimated 952,629 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The DC area has the highest rate in the country of AIDS cases proportionate to its size and population. Of all black women living with HIV/AIDS, the primary transmission category was high-risk heterosexual contact, followed by injection drug use
(In video: Bridget Gray and her popular "Letter to Hip Hop")
Los Angeles filmmaker Bob Bryan has unveils his seventh powerful installment in his multi award-winning Documentary Series entitled GV7 RANDOM URBAN STATIC: The Iridescent Equations of SPOKEN WORD.
He is releasing two (2) versions: An Unofficially Rated G Version for General Audiences, Schools and Libraries and the Original Unedited Version for those who do not mind some “raw street vernacular.” Both versions will have a Running time of 2 hours.
Bob Bryans’ last documentary GV6 THE ODYSSEY explored the point of views of 31 contemporary Literary Page Poets. GV6 THE ODYSSEY deals with those Poets who write words for the page, while GV7 RANDOM URBAN STATIC probes the reality of those Poets that write for the stage.
Not all the poets shared a deep abiding love for hip-hop in its current incarnation. Many of the Poets feel that Hip-hop has within its grasp the potential to be a positive catalyst for massive personal & social change. They feel unfortunately that its potential has been severely underdeveloped and in some cases perversely denigrated by some of its commercial practitioners.
But at the same time other poets in GV7 openly discuss issues of date-rape, the courage to be an artist, the psychological repression of women, How Hip-hop can help or Hurt, HIV-AIDS & homosexuality, image vs. reality, obsessions, race-consciousness, anorexia, self-love, the high-jacking of black men’s masculinity & vunerability, disappointment with God, insanity, self-loathing, inspiration and salvation.
"Noone can say these poets tread lightly or try to avoid issues that we all, in some way or another grapple with. It's what makes this expression so relative, ” says Filmmaker Bob Bryan.
